First Time DMing - Carrion Crown - Advice?

[RaizielDragon]

So, I will be DMing Pathfinder for the first time this Saturday. I will be running the Carrion Crown adventure path.

My only past DM experience is an adventure path in 4th edition.

Currently, the party consists of:

Elf Rogue (Knife Master archetype)
Oracle (Unsure of race, Juju mystery, Tongues curse which I allowed Necril to be her Tongues language)
Human Fighter (Focusing on Archery, though flavored as a "crossbowwoman" a la Gretel from Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters)
Human Gunslinger (Musket Master, a la Hansel)
Either an Alchemist/Rage Alchemist (a la Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde) or a Witch Hunter (a la Van Helsing) (player is currently undecided)
And one other player that has not decided on a charater at all, though their attendance will be infrequent, so it's fairly unimportant.

Also, only Hansel or Gretel will be attending at a time; they won't both be present under normal circumstances (it's a husband and wife, so one has to watch the kids).

So, for the most part, there will be 4 characters.

I'm used to a "normal" party being 5 characters, but I think I saw somewhere that the adventure paths are made for 4. Is that correct? If not, and it should be 5, should I introduce an NPC of my own creation to follow them around, and assist? I don't typically like to alter the pre-made content for under-manned parties.

Also, the party seems somewhat ranged-bias. I don't want to encourage the undecided players to go one way or the other, but the rage alchemist would be much more useful than the van helsing clone, I think, because we need a meat bag up front. Unless this adventure path is more accomodating of ranged combat.

Anyway, I think that is everything. Any advice I should need before heading into this?

[Pan]

Hi, welcome.

I am 1 or 2 sessions away from completing Carrion Crown. I found it to be a very fun adventure for the players and myself as a GM. I would be happy to throw a few bones your way.

The APs are created with 4 characters in mind at 15 point buy. Depending on the entire group experience with 3E/PF, 5 players occasionally, or most of the time, shouldnt be a problem but is not neccesary.

Here are some tips I have for you:

Visit the Carrion Crown forum subsection. There is a wealth of information on the AP you can gather there. Things from story help to mechanical help is all there.

Take a look at the advancement track. If you feel like experience points are going to be a challenge you can remove them and use the story as your baseline for advancement.

Having a laptop or tablet available with the Pathfinder SRD can be a lifesaver when it comes to looking up rules and features. Also, it helps with monsters from the bestiary occasionally you wont get a stat block in the AP book.

Have fun!

[RaizielDragon]

I'll make sure to go take a look at the specific forum.

I based XP off of where the story said to be in the 4E campaign I ran; good to hear it is an acceptable method here as well.

Laptops are pretty much a staple with our normal group.

[Eltacolibre]

I'd recommend to watch Bram Stroker's Dracula, good movie to get the mood of the adventure path.

[MurphysParadox]

I'm wrapping up book 5 of Carrion Crown now, so I can help a bit.

First, read the Carrion Crown forum on these message boards. You have to scroll down the list a bit, but you'll see it. Carrion Crown is pretty good, but it can be down right awesome with a bit of extra work (foreshadowing is a large bit of it). There are sticky threads for each of the books in CC, so read the entire thread for the book before you start. It is also fun to hit some of the other threads mentioned. Lastly, don't be afraid to ask in there for CC specific help.

Now, your party. Juju Oracle could be... troublesome, thematically, or give you an opportunity for some fun. The main bad guys are the Whispering Way, which is all about undead, so having your own undead maker could lead to conflicts of interest. Even without that concern, it would be quite easy (and fun, for you anyway) for NPCs and others to not understand the distinction between undead monster and juju zombie.

The party is also, as you said, quite weak on the front line and on healing. You can always adjust encounters to deal with this as it comes, but it is also a fairly deadly adventure path (just check out that Obituaries thread) so maybe the party will get the chance to mix it up quite often.

Adventure Paths are for 4 characters on the Medium XP path. I run my game with 5 characters on the Fast XP path. It really doesn't make too much of a difference; certainly not enough to need an NPC. I make fights a bit harder when everyone is at the table, but only started that around book 3 (if it says three werewolves, I'd give them four). Mostly I just have fights run together. It takes time to get a feel for what everyone can handle.

Since Pathfinder has no concept of stickiness, front line meat bags aren't especially amazing at keeping bad guys from the ranged folks. That said, it is annoying in a fight to have things dying to a hail of arrows and bullets before they can get close enough to attack anyone. This is another benefit of chaining fights; you can have bad guys coming at the party from multiple angles and try to get the ranged PCs to move around.

One thing you are missing is an arcane caster. That will prove to be interesting. Hopefully someone has knowledge arcana and some spellcraft just for the fun of it. On the otherhand, your group won't have the issue my party's wizard had with the Splatter Man's spell book, heh.

Like I said, if your group make-up isn't good, characters will die and then they can fix the imbalance.

A lot of GMing is about making decisions at the time and going with it until you can check the rules. Explain this policy to the players and it should go a bit easier. You will be wrong at times, but halting play for half an hour isn't necessarily a good option either. Of course, if it means a character dying or not, a halt is probably warranted.

Lastly, ask questions. We're all know-it-alls on the forums and love to talk about what we know.

[el cuervo]

MurphysParadox wrote:

Adventure Paths are for 4 characters on the Medium XP path.

I'm fairly certain they're written for the Fast XP track.

[Pan]

el cuervo wrote:

MurphysParadox wrote:

Adventure Paths are for 4 characters on the Medium XP path.

I'm fairly certain they're written for the Fast XP track.

You sir are incorrect. There is a thread somewhere with JJ saying they thought about trying an AP on the fast track but are sticking to medium track as default for APs.

[el cuervo]

Pan wrote:

el cuervo wrote:

MurphysParadox wrote:

Adventure Paths are for 4 characters on the Medium XP path.

I'm fairly certain they're written for the Fast XP track.

You sir are incorrect. There is a thread somewhere with JJ saying they thought about trying an AP on the fast track but are sticking to medium track as default for APs.

Maybe Rise of the Runelords AE is different, then?

Rise of the Runelords AE AP book wrote:

Advancement Track

Rise of the Runelords assumes that the adventuring
party consists of four PCs, and that experience points
are earned on the fast advancement track. At this rate,
you can expect your party to gain approximately three
levels of experience in each chapter of this adventure.

[alginon]

I am currently gaming this as well (on ashes at dawn now)

Everyone has given great advice! Here are a couple more things.....

First read all 6 intros and backgrounds for the campaign. This way you have an overall vision of the campaign.

Second, find a way for the party to be vested in the campaign. I had Kendra accompany the party as an npc. They were concerned about protecting her as she travelled this AP.

Third, don't worry about party makeup. In my 32 years of gaming experience, a party will find its own, personal balance. My party is a rogue, summoner, paladin, and rage alchemist. They are doing fine, and are overcoming obstacles in their own way.

If you need help or advice, just ask! We here all love to help eachother.

When I get a chance, I will post my campaign personalization for all to read

Good luck

[Rynjin]

General advice:

-This AP can be BRUTAL in some spots, especially bits of the first two books. It throws challenges that are generally technically CR appropriate, but with outside circumstances that makes them hilarious deathtraps. Try to make your players understand that, more than any other AP I can think of, doing something dumb will probably get them killed.

Big Spoiler Don't Read If You Don't Wanna be Spoiled, 'Kay?:

-Try to introduce Adivion Adrissant early. He's the main Big Bad of the entire AP...but his existence isn't even HINTED at until the end of Book 5. A good way to do it, IMO, is to have him show up at the funeral at the start of the game. Play him up as a friend of the Professor. I went as far as to make him (or a Simulacrum of him, anyway) a helper in Book 2 (he was their lawyer) who travels with them on the road to Book 3.

That's just my simple thing though, there's a really good, in-depth one in the Carrion Crown Ap Fourm. I suggest checking it out.

-Try to set the mood with soft music and embellishing the descriptions of areas. This AP is a lot better if you can make it spooky, rather than just another adventure that's a bit more dangerous than some.